Katinka Hosszu Collects Two Golds, Bronze After Six Night Swims on Day One

Photo Courtesy: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

DEBRECEN, Hungary, July 16. AS previously reported, the Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu has entered every single event at the Hungarian Open National Championships here in Debrecen, and she had a strong first day of swimming. She walked away with two golds and a bronze as well as qualified for two more finals in her six swims tonight.

Hosszu kicked off her winning ways with a 2:08.29 in the women’s 200-meter fly. She needed every bit of energy she had in the event as she clipped Evelyn Verraszto (2:08.33) at the finish. Hosszu has been faster this year with a seventh-ranked 2:07.53 from the Sette Colli meet, while Verraszto jumped to 13th in the SwimVortex world rankings with her swim. Liliana Szilagyi placed a close third in 2:08.37 to snare 14th in the world in what proved to be a fast finale.

Hosszu followed with a winning 4:40.86 in the women’s 400-meter IM. Again, the full-load of swims here at the Hungarian Open Nationals did take a bit of a toll as she previously had a sixth-ranked season best of 4:33.80 from the Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo stop. But, her time tonight was good enough for the victory. Reke Gyorgy took second in 4:42.43 with Dorina Szekeres placing third in 4:47.73.

Hosszu suffered her first finals loss in a completely off event as part of the women’s 50-meter breaststroke. But, she still managed to medal with a third-place 32.88 in the sprint event. Anna Sztankovics took the gold in 31.92 with Lisa Fissneider placing second in 32.75. Earlier in the evening, Hosszu qualified second in the 50 breast semis with a 32.85.

Meanwhile, in semifinal swimming, Hosszu took third in the 100-meter free with a 56.04. Erika Ferraioli (55.41) and Silvia Di Pietro (55.48) of Italy led the way with a 1-2 in qualifying. Hosszu also took second in the 100-meter back semis with a 1:03.55. Carlotta Zofvoa paced that event with a 1:01.50.

Dominik Kozma finished about half-a-second outside the top 20 in the world in the men’s 200-meter freestyle with a 1:47.71 for the win tonight. Kurt Herzog of Australia currently anchors the top 20 with a 1:47.48 from Aussie Nationals. Jan Switkowski of Poland took second in 1:49.40, while Peter Bernek snared third in the finale with a 1:49.78.

Gergely Gyurta raced his way to victory in the men’s 400-meter IM with a 4:18.29. No one else even came close as Norbert Szabo finished second in 4:24.68 with Zsombor Szana wrapping up the podium with a third-place 4:27.10.

Tomasz Polewka touched out Gabor Balog, 25.45 to 25.48, in the men’s 50-meter backstroke finale. Laszlo Cseh, still searching for the magic that made him a three-time Olympic silver medalist, wound up third in the event with a 25.69.

In other semifinal swims, Benca Pulai posted the top swim in the men’s 100-meter fly with a 52.83. Daniel Gyurta coasted to a 1:01.27 to led the men’s 100-meter breaststroke semis and will be looking to beat his 10th-ranked season-best 1:00.32 during finals.

Author: Jason Marsteller

Jason Marsteller is the general manager of digital properties at Swimming World. He joined Swimming World in June 2006 as the managing editor after previous stints as a media relations professional at Indiana University, the University of Tennessee, Southern Utah University and the Utah Summer Games.